There’s more to appreciate in everyone’s individual contributions fall ’72 very pleasing to the ear

Cold Rain & Snow is a perfect opener. The initial chords are a bit off, but within a minute or two they've got it firing on all cylinders.
Mexicali makes an early appearance, plenty of funky pep. Almost sounds like Bob's guitar is purposely out of tune?
TN Jed, in the payoff jam you get some X factor from Jerry and Bob playing off each other amazingly. Keith is a bit subdued. Tough to hear Billy much at all in this Miller SBD.
BIODTL
Bird Song features the focused, thematic jamming it would always have. It's good teamwork, Phil in particular laying down some good areas for Jerry to work around, while Bob throws in mainly stoccato chords in an interesting pattern. Jerry flies high in his solos. They don't do the fake ending before heading back to the verse, which I appreciated. Clocking in at 13 minutes, very enjoyable.
BTW was just what the doctor ordered. Great drowning in you pay off at the end.
On the heels of this we get Big Railroad Blues, total fun.
El Paso is just about right. We get some great moments of being in synch here.
BEW is solid.
Cumberland Mines brings us some harmony and a great, trainlike rhythm. Jerry isn't shy with the noodles, though he seems to be a bit low in the mix. This is a blow your doors off version even with a lower than desirable Jer (does seem to improve as the song goes on). A+.
Jack Straw keeps us in the vocal teamwork category.
Don't Ease is rocking and rolling!
PITB takes a minute to get really cooking, but once it does, by about 8 minutes, it's full of noodles and Phil rocking. I think it's still a good idea to turn up the mid-range if you have EQ capabilities, to get Garcia more out there. It calms back down a little, for a PITB anyhow, around 14 minutes. After the 17 minute mark Jerry takes on a nice, watery/wavy tone, and Keith works into the tone magically right before the return to theme to mark the reprise. Despite the stong finish, decent for a year of standout PITBs, worth the listen, but not a shining star.
Casey Jones to end the set.

Promised Land lacks the pep I would look for in an opener. It then leads into a funny Take a Step Back.
He's Gone isn't likely to bring the energy back where I would like it, though there is an extended jam at the end. The playing during the body of the song is well done, and bodes well for said jam. They throw in a bit longer of a jam before the vocal reprise. It features some strong Garcia notes. Too much vocal reprise, and the hoped for jam after is short and doesn't really do anything, and thusly Bob takes us into...
Bobby McGee. After the anticlimatic Gone, this is a nice choice, not too much of a clash, but putting us back on the road to enjoyable music. We get that awesome trill from Jerry in the solo, and he makes his guitar sing the words. I don't appreciate the weird, quasi-yodelling vocals nearer the end.
China Rider, China starts with intent Bobby notes behind Jerry. The first solo is rather short. Nice transition jam, especially after the switch over into Rider. Rider keeps a nice steady pace. The finale jam is full of energy, charging up that mountain.
Tomorrow is forever.
GSET is greatly appreciated at this point! Another homerun here! Donna... gak.
1/2 Step isn't half steppin! Good version here.
Stella Blue comes right out of it nicely. Pretty much one of those flawless versions, very nicely done.
Truckin>Nobody Jam>Drums>UJB Jam>Dew. Truckin is a fun ride! Great jam leading up to the explosion, that leads to the first Nodoby's Fault But Mine jam in a while. It's short but cool, and falls into drums.
Phil is the first to join back up. They make their way into an UJB jam. A little light for me.
The transition into Dew, however, is pretty cool. The Dew itself is majestic, properly rising and falling. Finale features fanning and does what the Dew is supposed to do.
Sugar Magnolia closes out the set in style.
Double encore of UJB, earlier jammed, into JBG. A solid combo to end a delightful evening. In the end, they reached high points several times, but they didn't maintain it, so I can't call it a top show of the year. A 4.5 really.

Standard early 70's.

I'm not really that into their '72 sound, but this show is very good for all that.

Love hearing those keys out in the front of the mix. The intro to El Paso makes me smile. Thank goodness they eventually abandon Tomorrow is Forever. Ugh - 0 Stars for that song in particular.

at around 4 minutes into "Jam" the band fine tunes / discovers :the transition: that they will use for China-> Rider for years to come.

heavy bass leading into groovy jam...way good... solid stuff...blown away.


EDIT if possible: Here is a good reference show

1974-05-19 (May 19, 1974)

Wow! Sound quality is incredible and the playing throughout is superb.....even the Don't Ease is intense! Thanks for sharing this fine gem.

I often think of asking a beautiful woman how she can get anything done, because if I were her, I'd spend all day looking in the mirror, fascinated.

Charlie, is that what it's like for you? How do you get anything else done? How could you possibly get ANYTHING else done? This music is just that beautiful!

Oh, and by the way, at the time I'm writing this, I've only listened to Uncle John's Band Jam > Morning Dew. The sonic clarity, the passion of the musicians...it's all there and it's orgasmic.

I agree with Dylan before me; the Palace and Stanley Theater shows from the week or two before and the ensuing Midwest/Southwest shows over the following month produced a particularly solid work product from the band.

By and large, this is the era I grew up listening to as a teenager. It was the sound I fell in love with. (I listened to the Europe '72 album hundreds if not thousands of times.) I was too young to experience the experimentation, mania and antics of the 60's firsthand. Yes, I appreciate those formative years for what they are/were. But this is me...

Thank you David for the tape and Charlie for polishing and transferring it here for our enjoyment.

Best,
Nico

Great show. Classic sound. We love Fall 72', its when the Dead became the their mature touring entity. The setlist gained more structure (rockers with one or two good jam outs first set, and a sprawling more jammed out connecting second set).

Last Uncle John's Band Jam. They play it for encore time. Sweet

Highlights here are Bird Song, Playing, Cumberland, and the entire second set (save Tommorrow is Forever).

How could you give any show between September and December 72' less than a 5 star rating.

Great sounding update too.

Just streamed through PITB. The first set is off the hook. The Cumberland Blues, Bird Song AND PITB are just fantastic. You can hear how the band is drifting into another period in terms of it's sound. The Garage rock feel that existed at the start of the year, is changing into a more refined and mellow sound. Bird Song is a great example. Garcia is trying to stretch the improvisational part of the tune away from the droning sound's that we hear so often A bit earlier. Enough chatter. Thanks for the show Charlie. Sound is Grate!!